It’s a Grand Avenue in St. Paul
If you can tear yourself away from the Mall of America, you’ll find an enjoyable shopping area in St. Paul that I’d missed on all my previous visits to the Twin Cities — Grand Avenue. Fact is, I never even looked at St. Paul. But I’m glad I did on my recent trip.
Like St. Louis Park, 50th and France, Uptown and other Minneapolis shopping areas, Grand Avenue is a street of delightful shops, cafes and restaurants. Seems like Twin Cities’ folks enjoy strolling down an avenue rather than going to a mall.
Grand Avenue stretches from the Mississippi River to downtown St. Paul. It covers about 25 blocks and is easy to find — just check for directions on grandave.com.
I think the biggest surprise on Grand Avenue was Restoration Hardware, a store I’ve only seen in malls. That tells me Grand Avenue gets a lot of foot traffic from shoppers. In fact, I saw at least two designer stores — Susan Metzger and Sorrayah Studios. But others have unique fashions, one-of-a-kind gift items, sophisticated footwear and art. Visit Hot Mama, Shu Global Footwear and Bibelot for starters. But don’t miss the Patagonia store, Irish on Grand (Irish products) or Quince. If you appreciate natural fiber fabrics, visit Treadle Yard Goods.
Grocery stores are even interesting on Grand. Whole Foods Market, Penzey’s Spice Shop and my all-time favorite, Kowalski’s Grand Market (it’s way more than a grocery store — it’s a delightfuol place to shop).
We stopped for coffe and something sweet at Bread & Chocolate, but didn’t have time for a meal. Too bad, because I really wanted to try Dixie’s — which features genuine southern cooking. Next time, for sure. But you’ll have close to 3 dozen cafe, coffeshop, bakery and restaurant choices on Grand Avenue.
NEXT: Milwaukee’s Third Ward
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3 comments October 27, 2006
